Crew Wanted: Herrington Harbor, MD to somewhere warmer south

[a64pilot]

He has a Northern lights generator.
An IPad is fine, actually better than a plotter for the ICW, just of course have a depth finder which I’m sure you do.
You should have a back up IPad though, be sure to put software on it that has Active Capt on it, it’s invaluable for running the ICW.
This time of year etc, and as your new to this, and the boat, I’d run the ICW, even if you had a Pro, to shake out the boat, you May run into issues like bugs in the fuel or something and being on the ICW means it’s just an inconvenience to call Boat US, which brings that up, buy Boat US towing Insurence right now, I believe there is a waiting period from when you buy until it’s active, but I am not sure about that.

Brunswick is one hour from the Jax airport. I just made the drive today both ways from Ortega Landing to Brunswick, it’s one hour.

Jax airport is North of Jax so it may only be 45 min or less.

[FEC]

Yes my boat has a generator but i do not own any ipads,!

[FEC]

Originally Posted by s/v Moondancer

I do not work professionally as a skipper but I have a UK 200 ton licence and my wife and I sailed our 55 ft Tayana 40,000 nm including a Pacific crossing. I have sailed Miami to the Chesapeake and back several times the last being in May when I helped an inexperienced owner sail a boat from Ft Lauderdale to Long Island taking the boat outside Hatteras.

I am available from Thanksgiving until the 7th of December. I do not charge but expenses would be appreciated. The trip, if done outside, is very weather dependent and 10 days might not be sufficient to accomplish the trip. Paying a full time professional skipper is a more time reliable option.

Phil Kellett MD, I am a retired physician living in Miami.

PM sent

[FEC]

Originally Posted by s/v Moondancer

I do not work professionally as a skipper but I have a UK 200 ton licence and my wife and I sailed our 55 ft Tayana 40,000 nm including a Pacific crossing. I have sailed Miami to the Chesapeake and back several times the last being in May when I helped an inexperienced owner sail a boat from Ft Lauderdale to Long Island taking the boat outside Hatteras.

I am available from Thanksgiving until the 7th of December. I do not charge but expenses would be appreciated. The trip, if done outside, is very weather dependent and 10 days might not be sufficient to accomplish the trip. Paying a full time professional skipper is a more time reliable option.

Phil Kellett MD, I am a retired physician living in Miami.

Originally Posted by Mlp48

I've looked at some specs and wonder: is the boat 7.55' draft or not quite 6' ? The deeper is nearly a "no go" for ICW. BUT.. you might really consider hiring a good delivery crew and with routing advice to get you offshore and down to Charleston where it'll be warmer, interesting and fun.

Actually i checked the specs again and it reads 5'11", you were correct

[FEC]

Originally Posted by tomrealest

These reply's have some good advice in them. The days are short now so you are going to be limited in far you can get. You have to have good heat. On the ICW, I sometimes sit on and wrap my legs in an electric blanket. Multiple layers of clothes and you still might have cold feet.
Check flights out of Jacksonville to the west coast. It is a good airport along with Charleston.
North Florida or south Georgia can be pretty chilly in the winter. How many trips east to you think you are going to make and do you think you are going sailing on every trip? If not, the idea of the Chesapeake this summer seems like a good idea to me. Once you get to Florida, the Bahamas or the Keys are probably going to be your destinations. The Chesapeake is a boaters paradise. I am in south Florida and I miss the Chesapeake.

They most certainly do which is why i turn to this community for knowledge and advice. Im writing down everything i'm being told and trying to get an overall picture of my options. If plan B doesn't pan out, i guess my only option would be plan A which is to winterize in HHN and just waiting until the spring...bummer

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

... buy Boat US towing Insurence right now, I believe there is a waiting period from when you buy until it’s active, but I am not sure about that.

Towing insurance takes effect at midnight on the day you sign up.

[malbert73]

Originally Posted by FEC

They most certainly do which is why i turn to this community for knowledge and advice. Im writing down everything i'm being told and trying to get an overall picture of my options. If plan B doesn't pan out, i guess my only option would be plan A which is to winterize in HHN and just waiting until the spring...bummer

Even in NC and SC you can get sub freezing temps so you will have to winterize boat if you’re leaving it

[DDouglasone]

Originally Posted by FEC

They most certainly do which is why i turn to this community for knowledge and advice. Im writing down everything i'm being told and trying to get an overall picture of my options. If plan B doesn't pan out, i guess my only option would be plan A which is to winterize in HHN and just waiting until the spring...bummer

If it were me, I'd let her sit until spring BUT I'd be out here sailing, getting to know her and learning if money/time permits.

I would winterize the water systems and simply not touch them or learn to do it by doing it several times as you come and go until spring.

I'd come out for two weeks at a time(1week min) stay on her and sail her with local help a few times to get your confidence up.

Freezing your butt off is fun!😂

You might get the prev owner involved too if possible.

If you simply must do it then do it now and don't look back.

You got the boat for adventuring so what better adventure is there then doing it now too? Lol.

Go for it!

[mnh]

You got a lot of sage like advice on this thread. We just took our boat from Herrington to Hilton Head, SC over the last 3 weeks. We had 3 strong cold fronts come through in that time frame. By strong, I mean that winds were in excess of 25 knots from the NE for days at a time off the NC coast. Conditions offshore were not very comfortable, so we ducked back in at Southport, NC. and headed down the ICW the rest of the way. It gets pretty shallow in spots at low tide along stretches of the ICW, and with your draft, and no chart plotter, I wish you luck. Trying to read a tablet right before you go aground is not the way to do it.

Hilton Head is a lovely Island with an airport, and at has least 3 mainstream airlines flying in and out.
Anyway, if I can be of any assistance with the vendors at Herrington North (and we know them all) feel free to PM me. We have had our sailboat there for 6 years.
mnh

[FEC]

Originally Posted by Auspicious

Towing insurance takes effect at midnight on the day you sign up.

Thank you Auspicious, I'm actually signing up for it today. I noticed on my insurance papers that they are charging me for this service, I think it's more economical to go straight to the towing company than through insurance, your thoughts?

[FEC]

Originally Posted by malbert73

Even in NC and SC you can get sub freezing temps so you will have to winterize boat if you’re leaving it

This is what I thought as well so I would probably go even further south, weather and time permitting. More and more it's looking like southern Georgia or Florida for me if I can find the right mix of people/person to help us out. Thanksgiving is just about a week and half from now.

[FEC]

Originally Posted by DDouglasone

If it were me, I'd let her sit until spring BUT I'd be out here sailing, getting to know her and learning if money/time permits.

I would winterize the water systems and simply not touch them or learn to do it by doing it several times as you come and go until spring.

I'd come out for two weeks at a time(1week min) stay on her and sail her with local help a few times to get your confidence up.

Freezing your butt off is fun!😂

You might get the prev owner involved too if possible.

If you simply must do it then do it now and don't look back.

You got the boat for adventuring so what better adventure is there then doing it now too? Lol.

Go for it!

That is too funny because it's my way of thinking too, but SWMBO has a different take on it

[FEC]

Originally Posted by mnh

You got a lot of sage like advice on this thread. We just took our boat from Herrington to Hilton Head, SC over the last 3 weeks. We had 3 strong cold fronts come through in that time frame. By strong, I mean that winds were in excess of 25 knots from the NE for days at a time off the NC coast. Conditions offshore were not very comfortable, so we ducked back in at Southport, NC. and headed down the ICW the rest of the way. It gets pretty shallow in spots at low tide along stretches of the ICW, and with your draft, and no chart plotter, I wish you luck. Trying to read a tablet right before you go aground is not the way to do it.

Hilton Head is a lovely Island with an airport, and at has least 3 mainstream airlines flying in and out.
Anyway, if I can be of any assistance with the vendors at Herrington North (and we know them all) feel free to PM me. We have had our sailboat there for 6 years.
mnh

Thanks for the offer for assistance with the vendors there at HHN. I went to see them all to get qoutes for winterizing and I must say, $1000 seems like an awful lot to put 30gls of antifreeze on a boat. But seeing as how I do not know how to do it myself, that is the route I will probably have to take if a different opportunity doesn't present itself here shortly.

[FEC]

Originally Posted by mnh

Hilton Head is a lovely Island with an airport, and at has least 3 mainstream airlines flying in and out.

mnh

This! And I have family in Savannah which is great. Thanks for this bit of advice.

[joelhemington]

Originally Posted by Auspicious

I'm a delivery skipper. I may be more expensive than you are prepared to manage. I do owner aboard deliveries often that include training. I sign-off on insurance for a number of carriers.

It makes no sense to hire someone like me for the ICW. Offshore could work.

As you noted your air draft is 63.5' below the 65' fixed bridges on the ICW. You might want to go up the mast and flip the VHF antenna upside down in its bracket. Measure the light fixture and wind instrument and consider taking them off.

It's one day from HHN to Norfolk/Hampton/Portsmouth/Little Creek. I press up fuel and water in Little Creek at Cobb's Marina before heading offshore or down the ICW.

I would stage in Little Creek and go offshore from there right under a cold front, stay inside the Gulf Stream, and head for Charleston. From Brunswick, 225(ish) miles further south, your airport is a long way away in Jacksonville FL. Air travel in and out of Charleston is easier. No non-stops to LAX but lots of single changes.

It's already cold. You're going to need heat. I suggest long underwear and a couple of Mr. Heater Portable Buddy heaters.



The boat has to be somewhere so marina fees are a wash. Winterization is relatively cheap. The bigger issue is finding someone to do it right. $500 maybe? Depends on just how many systems are on the boat. In-water storage is fine. For me to take the boat to Charleston would be between $3000 and $4000. You could wait for Spring, cruise the Chesapeake, and head South as soon as your insurance permits. You could even watch the weather and spend some time sailing on long weekends and holidays. You'll want those propane heaters. Cheap.

I'm happy to give advice. If you want a real bid for training and delivery you can write me at dave@AuspiciousWorks.com . You might solicit @Snore, also here on CF, and Karl Weber atthehelmdelivery@gmail.com. I'm probably best at training but will likely be most expensive. Oh - for me - you'll need a lot of paper and pens. I draw a lot of pictures when I talk, unless we're working off my supply of PowerPoint presentations. *grin*



It's never too late. The weather doesn't pop up. We know where it comes from and can plan accordingly. Really must have heat.

See above for the 65' ICW bridge height issue.

Rounding Diamond Shoals at Cape Hatteras gets a bad rap. It isn't really worse than most of the midatlantic coast. You have to watch the weather (gribs aren't weather - synoptic charts). I've been around Hatteras hundreds of times and turned back exactly twice. I've had to wait a day or two for acceptable conditions (the term "weather window" bugs me - personal issue - sorry).

From HHN to Hampton Roads is just a day. I've been cold and wet on the trip but absent a hurricane or Nor'easter weather should not stop you from heading down the Bay. These are inland waters. Beautiful and interesting but protected.

Now about provisioning.... *grin*

Frankly Auspicious,

If I were the in the OP's position, I'd take you up on that 3 to 4K offer. Not only would he get his boat moved safely but I'm sure he'd learn a lot about about sailing the boat and the systems (especially if you were to take the offshore route - I suspect your sailing techniques would be some what limited in the ICW) This could easily save him much more than your fee in avoiding costly mistakes downstream and give him a lot more confidence going forward. You can't put too high a cost on good knowledge.